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1818--1871 Written by the late Col. Joel W. Perry. (A friend suggests that we mod ernize some of the history written by our grandfather, and in accordance with his suggestion we have added in parenthesis at certain points in the narrative a brief explanation show ing locations in present day descrip tions.—Editor News. Some First Marriages. This being a merry season of the year, I will give some account of the first marriages in the county. I re gret that I did not think of it in time to have it published last week 50 that it could have been read during Christmas times. I am unable to give dates with any certainty or to place them in regular order. I will give them as nearly correct as I can. Amongst the first persons married in the county was Othniel Weaver and Miss Grimsley, a niece of Richard Grimsley. They lived many years near the mouth of Colomokee Creek. From thence they moved to Randolph county and settled on the river some 412 or 15 miles above Fort Gaines, from whence he moved to Arkansas where they both died. He was the son of Jonathan Weaver, who was killed by the Indians in 1918 and the first Clerk of the Inferior Court of the county. Bryan Sheffield and Miss Nancy Payne, a ward of Richard Grimsley, were married about the same time. He settled within a mile or two of where his son, Seaborn Sheffield, now resides. He subsequently moved to his brother's, Wright Sheffield’s place, upon which his son, Seaborn, now lives. (This place is now in the Southwest corner of the town of Ar lington, and is known at the present day because of the assassination of Seaborn Sheffield there some thirty odd years ago.) His residence was in what is now the field to the left of the road as you §0 towards Mor gan. In 1827 he built the mill now known as Low’s mill in the eastern part of the county, just below Dun lap’s, in raising the frame of which a son of Wright Sheffield, named James, was killed by the timbers falling on him. Their children all remain in the county yet. He has been dead many years. His wife survived him several years. John Minter and Elizabeth Peter man married at Porter’s Ferry in 1821 or 1822. He did not live a great many years. His widow survived him for many years without marrying again and died, we believe, at the house of her son-in-law, Mr. Jesse B. Mosely, within the last ten years. Their sons, C. A. Minter, Esquire, and Mr. John M. Minter, are respected our county, who, with Mrs. Mosely, constitute the family left by him. Though few in number, they bid fail to raise up quite a re spected positerity for them. Capt. William W. Hair, now of Gordon, Ala., and Miss Dickson were married at an early period of the history of the county, but in what year we can not say. They resided many years in the neighborhood of Porter’s Ferry, at least in the 26th district, where Mrs. Hair died. They had no children. Capt. Hair subse quently married a sister of Dr. Nun nally and some years since moved to Gordon, Ala. They have no is sue. He is now in very feeble health, unable to attend to business, apparently near the end of his jour ney of life, but we hope he may re gain his health of body and mind and resume his accustomed place in so ciety. About the same time Robert Ma lone married a sister of Mrs. Hair, who was the widow of Samuel Curry. They were cut off into Decatur coun ty at its formation. A. I. E. Jackson and Miss Carpen ter were married within the first few years of the settlement of the county. They resided in the neighbor hood of Porter’s Ferry for a number of years and then left the county and went to Pike county, Alabama, where we lost sight of them. About 1822 or 1823 Etheldred Hays married Miss Nancy Sheffield, sister of R. W. Sheffield, Esquire. They settled in the county, at first on Blue Creek. At one time they moved to Fort Gaines and lived some years, when they returned to the lower part of the county, where they re mained until the death of Mrs. Hays, which occurred several years ago. s. Hays still survives and with the ost of their children yet living re ide in the lower part of this county land in Miller county. ‘A few years later Mr. John Sheffield married Lucretia Studstill. As men tioned heretofore, they were amongst the first settlers of Blakely. They re sided in the county as long as Mr. Sheffield lived and Mrs. Sheffield and family remained in it until the forma tion of Miller county, in which county they still live, or at least such of the children as still survive. In 1822 Mr. John Griffith married Miss Polly Morgan. He lived but a few months. His widow afterwards married Davis Elliott. These parties lived in the neighborhood of Fort Gaines. , Jacob Murray married Miss Neeves, sister of our fellow citizen, John Neeves, now of Clay county. He only lived a year or two. He left one daughter, who is now the wife of Mr. Willoughby Grace, late of Bluffin. Mrs. Murray afterwards married Mr. Sebastian Fritzman, a Frenchman, a tailor by trade. They resided at rimsley’s mill on Colomokee creek, where we think Mrs. Fritzman died, and we lost sight of Mr. Fritzman. About 1826 Mr. John Neeves mar ried Miss Garnett Smith, sister of Mr. A. D. Smith. She lived but a few years. After her death he mar ried her sister, Miss Julia Smith. They resided in the county until the formation of Clay county, in which they now reside. In 1824 Phillip Tyson married Mrs. Nancy Smith, widow of Ladin Smith. She did not live very many years. After her death he married a Miss Braxton, with whom he is now liv ing a few miles above Blakely on the Fort Gaines road. Among the earliest marriages in the county was that of the late James Bush and Mary Carraway. She was his second wife. They settled down in the county and raised a large fam ily of children who are scattered from here to Texas, though the largest portion of them are still in this coun ty and Miller. After the death of Mrs. Bush he married Miss Nancy Grantham, who also bore him several children, three of whom survive him. After her death he married Mrs. Tenant, being his fourth wife, who is still living. She bore him no chil dren. By his first three wives he had twenty-two children. He surely did his part towards obeying the divine injunction to “multiply and replenish the earth.” A few years later Samuel M. Hollo man married Susan Phillips, daugh ter of Daniel B. Phillips. He was pos sessed of a roving disposition and in temperate habits. He spent a num ber of years at different places in the county, but finally left it and got mix ed up with a band of outlaws, which brought him to an untimely end. Dildatha Odom and Miss Patsey — were among the early mar riages of the county. She was his second wife. They resided on the river a great many years on a part of the Hiayden plantation just above Frying creek, where they reared a large family of children, most of whom have left the State. One daughter resides in Miller county, the wife of Daniel Smith. One son, the late Green W. Odum, died in this county during the late war. His children are mostly citizens of this county. He has one son in Alabama, one in Louis iana and one in Texas. Of most of his daughters we have lost sight. His estate was divided into seventeen shares after his death. His widow is still living, so far as we know. He died at a good old age. He was a very peculiar man, though a very honest and upright one. He used to ride an old white horse, and when he got tight used to say that when he died he would have that same white horse to ride on in the world of spir its. Some years before his death he moved from the river and located on the plantation of Mrs. Cowdrey, where he died. In 1827 Dr. Alexander M. Watson married Miss Sarah Ann McAllister They resided in Fort Gaines until 1831, when he died near Apalachicola bay, on his return from Mobile, and was buried at Fort Gadsden. He left no children. His widow married the late Richard C. Spann, formerly of this county, but later of Franklin, Ala. She is still living and has rear ed several children of her own be sides those her husband had by his first marriage. Asa Odum, son of Dildatha Odum, and Miss Rebecca Grimsley, daughter of Capt. Joseph Grimsley, were mar ried at a comparatively early period. They resided in the neighborhod of Howard’s Landing until after the death of Mrs. Odum. His second wife was Miss Vicey Waller, sister of the late Mrs. Lazarus Simmons. His last residence was on what is now known as the Green Odum plantation. From there he moved to Louisiana, where he still lives, so far as we know. He has one daughter in the county, Mrs. Daniel White. All the other children went with him to Louisiana. About the same time John McLean married Miss Rebecca Kelly, daughter of William and Betheny Kelly. They resided at several places in the coun ty. Their final location was on Sow hatchee creek between Dr. Garling ton’s house and the creek on the lot of land now owned by Mrs. Lucinda Windsor, where he died in 1846. His wife had died several years previous ly. They left several children, one of whom is the wife of our fellow citi zen, John M. Minter. Another is the wife of Mr. John McLendon, of Fort Gaines. One son, Berrien, lost his life in the late war. The eldest daughter married a Mr. Simon, who left the county and took the youngest child, Rebecca, with them. His son, Joan, we have lost sight of. Mark Snellgrove and a Mr. Noyes married two of Jonathan Neal’s daugh ters previous to 1825. Noyes went to West Florida. Snellgrove resided on the head of Boggy creek for a number of years. From thence he went to Fort Gaines, where he had a narrow escape from death by the falling of a chimney, when nearly completed, upon which he was at work. Since he left Fort Gaines we have lost sight of him. Brown Liverman and Martha Long were amongst the very earliest mar riages. He only lived two or three years, when he was killed by one of his negroes, who was hung for the murder near the river road just above Pleasant Grove church, where Richard Grimsley then lived, that being the place of holding court for the county. Wm. A. Carr, sheriff, officiated as hangman. This was the first and only public execution in the county until since the emancipation of the ne groes. Since that time a negro man was hung for murdering his stepchild. During the war a negro man was hung under the authority of Judge Lynch for improper conduct at the house of a widow lady. This com prised the hangings in the county for 50 years and upwards. A pretty fair record, we think. I will mention here the marriage of William F. Carrigan and Mrs. Bethany Kelly, widow of William Kelly. The ceremony was performed in Blakely in a 12x14 feet grocery, the latter part of the year 1827. He lived with her a few years, when he left her and took one of her daughters and went off to West Florida and lived with her a year or so, when he returned and lived with his wife with occasion al interruptions until her death. In the meantime he had spent what little property she had when they were married. He afterwards married a woman said to be part Indian, whom many of the present citizens remem ber. They lived several years in a board camp near Stewart’s steam mill. (This is the part of Blakely now known as Flowers town, where the immense lumber mill of the Flow ers Bros. Lumber Co. formerly oper ated.) When Judge Bush settled where Mr. Robert Freeman now re sides we caused him to leave that place. He then built a small pole cabin in what is now known as John Standifer’s field on the next lot south of the mill, where he remained until his death, which occurred four or five years ago. His wife died several years previously. They left several children. The oldest son during the war went into the war as a substi tute, but soon deserted and went into the Federal army, or at least within their lines, where he remained during the war, and so far as is known to the writer, until the present time. An other son died a year or so after his father. The other two (a son and daughter) went to Alabama. In November, 1827, R. W. Sheffield, Esquire, then quite young, married Mrs. Mosely, widow of William Mose ly, and daughter of Jesse Brown, a revolutionary soldier, who then re sided on the place at present occu pied by his grandson, Jesse Brown Mosely. Judge Sheffield resided a few years on Blue creek and then removed to the place on which he now resides. He is so well known to the people of the county that we think it would be superfluous for us to say anything more about him or his family. About the same time or perhaps a month or two later Mr. Aaron D. Martin married Miss Hodges, a daugh ter of Judge Benjamin Hodges and sister of our fellow citizens, Stephen L. and Benjamin Hodges. They re sided a few years on the Safford plan tation, from whence they removed to Alabama, where he died and his widow married a Mr. Gammon, since which time we have lost sight of them. On the 2nd day of March, 1828, the writer and Miss Sarah Vickers Perry were married by Elder Samuel Johnson. After her death in 1849 the writer, on the 9th day of Janu ary, 1850, married Mrs. Elizabeth Alexander, widow of George W. Alex ander, and daughter of the late Stephen Williams, of Henry county, Ala., Elder Thos. Muse’ performing the ceremony. During the year 1828, A. D. Smith married Miss Mary Alexander, daugh ter of James W. Alexander, Esquire. They are both still living in the county and are too well known to require further notice. . During the first eight years of the existence of the county there were doubtless many other persons mar ried, especially in the eastern part of the county, but not being able to find the record of marriage licenses we are unable to give their names. If the names of other parties are fur nished, the writer will take pleasure in inserting them at a subsequent time. The First Cotton Gins in the County. The first gin houses built in the county were built by Armstrong and Attaway and William Neeves, Jr. The first at what is now known as the navy yard on the Safford-Johnson plantation in 1820 or 1821, the latter about 4 miles south of Fort Gaines on the road to Blakely on the place at present known as the Robert Thompson plantation in 1821. In speaking of the first mills in the county in a former article I entirely overlooked one of the first if not the very first mills built in the coun ty. This was one built by John Mil ner on a little creek emptying into the river just above Porter’s Ferry. We are not sure whether it was built on his own account or built for Freder ick Porter. When we first knew the place it was called Porter’s Mill. This way after the death of Minter. While on the subject I will correct anoth er slight mistake. In speaking of the mill built by Stephen Williams in 1820 on the Roaring Branch I locat ed it just below the road. It should have been just above the road. There are also one or two namies printed er roneously. In one place the name of Larkin Chivers appears as one of the Justices of the Inferior Court. I should have written Joel Chivers, as I did in every other place. Another name is printed Peter H. Edwards. It was written Pilot H. Edwards. An other place, speaking of Bryan Shef field's marriage and family, the clos ing line is printed “the family of Ish am Sheffield remains,” etc. It should have been the family of Bryan Shef field. I do not know whether the er ror is mine or the printer’s. I think the printers ‘have done remarkably well in not making more mistakes in printing so much, and especially so many proper names, than they have. The manuscript has been hurriedly written and often not read over by us before being sent to the printer. I must beg the kind indulgence of those who may take the trouble to read what I have written for the im perfect and disconnected manner in which the work has been written. To regret that I did not write it all out before any of it was published and then rewrite and re-arrange it all in some sort of system. The task has proved much more difficulty than I expected when I consented to under take it.
Newspaper Details
Blakely Early County News
Blakely, Georgia, US
Thu, Apr 26, 1917
Page 7
Full Page
Clipped by
Lanier H.
USA 20 Jul 2026
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Blakely Early County News
